So North Carolina Democratic hopeful Kay Hagan is suing Elizabeth Dole over a TV ad in the race for US Senate. I really have mixed feelings about this story. The implication is that Hagan is an atheist (or at the very least is strongly associated with atheists) and that’s patently untrue as she is an elder in her Presbyterian church. But, Hagan’s suit declares that “the advertisement … injures (Hagan’s) good name and reputation in the community”. The Dole camp counters that this information is something that Hagan is trying to keep quiet.
See? You don’t even have to be an atheist to be evil because simply being associated with atheists will injure your good name and reputation. And the discussions that I have seen on the TV news shows only add insult to injury. They argue about whether or not the ad is accurate or “smart” or whether Hagan should denounce the endorsement. It seems to have escaped every talking head that the Constitution declares that there will be no religious tests for office.
Atheism is the last frontier of open, community accepted prejudice in this county. You can turn people against someone by simply declaring “That person is an atheist!” Yet, if you tried that with virtually any other descriptor, such as “That person is a Jew!” or “That person is a woman!” or “That person is Hispanic!”, any half-educated, half-enlightened citizen would wrinkle their nose, turn their head away in disgust, and rightly label you a racist or worse. But atheism? Nope. That’s fair game in America, even in 2008. You can have your hate and wear it too.
So, I was thinking about what to put on the lawn to really scare the neighbors for Halloween tonight. I think I’m going to put up a big sign that says “An atheist lives here.”

Given the same players, how would changing the presidential tickets influence your vote? For starters, consider swapping the president and vice-president seats. A Biden/Obama ticket probably wouldn’t change my overall view of the ticket. That is, there are some things I like and dislike about Obama and some things I like and dislike about Biden, but on balance, I think they’d average out to no net change. A Palin/McCain ticket is another story. I simply cannot imagine Palin in the top spot in the real world. Her anti-intellectual streak just makes me shudder. It would definitely make me think even less of the pair.
The really interesting switch would be McCain/Biden versus Obama/Palin. Who would you vote for? On the one hand I could hope McCain became unable to hold the office (perhaps through some form of scandal) and Biden would take over, and on the other hand, I could hope that Palin could be shuffled off into a dark corner somewhere and not heard from, and nothing prevents Obama from filling out the term. But if I knew both pairs would fill the term completely and both members would be actively engaged in the administration, that would be a real mind bender. At this point, I honestly don’t know what I’d do. Fortunately, it’s not something I have to worry about this coming Tuesday. What about you?